Lone Wolf
by eskimita
Summary: Tony Stark was a lone wolf. He'd never received courting jewelry, had never expected to. So when Phil placed that box in front of his plate, he panicked. OT7 A/B/O relationship
1. Chapter 1

**This is both my first Avengers story and my first attempt at the A/B/O theme.**

It was common knowledge within S.H.I.E.L.D that the Avengers were a pack. Coulson, their handler, was the pack Alpha. He made the decisions for the pack; made sure that they were well protected, saw to the needs of everyone within the pack. Rogers and Romanov were his Betas. Romanov had been part of the original pack, with Coulson and Barton, but when the Avengers were brought together, Rogers had clicked with her as though they were always meant to be Betas together. Between the two of them, they oversaw the health of the pack, made sure that everyone in the pack was as physically capable of taking care of themselves in any situation as possible. Thor and Banner were both Betas as well, but quite easily submitted to Romanov and Rogers, looking to them for direction. Rather than making sure that the others were capable of taking care of themselves, Thor and Banner were always there when one of the others needed strong arms to curl up in, quiet understanding to sink into, the no nonsense advice the others relied on so heavily. Barton was the pack Omega, submissive to all the others in bed, in the heat of battle. The rest of the team protected him when they were off the field, treasured and loved. Then there was Stark. Tony Stark was an Omega just like Barton, but his place in the Avengers pack had yet to be determined. He fought the orders from the rest of the pack, pushed away their attempts to treasure him as they did Barton, shied away from letting any of them close. It wasn't until the pack started presenting him with courting gifts that the rest of the Avengers learned why he insisted on pushing them away, why he denied his desires to form a pack with them.

It was a tradition that had started long before history could remember. If a pack or a single Alpha was interested in an Omega, then the Omega was courted, given trinkets to wear and show their acceptance. In modern America, it was less regulated than it had been in the past. Packs no longer needed permission from an Omega's birth pack to start courting, no longer needed to express interest to someone of authority over the Omega before they could start giving gifts. Very few pack traditions had failed to evolve as time went on and society changed. Only two rules of pack life remained from the early days. If a pack or an Alpha was interested in an Omega, the exchange of gifts must happen before the Omega could be brought into the pack. And, if an Omega had been excommunicated by his or her birth pack, they could not be assimilated into a new pack, they were, by definition, lone wolves, and were to remain that way for the rest of their lives. It was so rare for an Omega to be kicked out of a birth pack anymore, practically unheard of. Omegas who were kicked out of their birth packs were unworthy, were looked down upon by the rest of society. None of the Avengers had ever thought for a second that one of their own might have been excommunicated, at least not until they'd all watched as Phil placed a small box in front of Tony only for the Omega to pale and run out of the room, not stopping for any of them when they called out to him.

"Well, that didn't go the way I imagined it would." Everyone looked at Bruce, frowning in confusion. "Tony panicked. The last time I saw an Omega react to a courting gift like that; it was because she'd been excommunicated from her birth pack. She couldn't join the new pack even if she wanted to." He shrugged and grabbed a coffee cup, "I think Tony was excommunicated."

"What is this excommunicated?" Thor tossed his empty box of Pop Tarts onto the counter and leaned over Clint's shoulder, grabbing one of the archer's muffins and eating it with a grin. "I have never heard of this tradition."

"Get your own food, Thor." Clint stabbed his fork into Thor's hand, leaning away from him and huffing. "Didn't Tony buy you like ten boxes of Pop Tarts?"

"I ate them all." Thor rumbled, reaching for the plate of muffins that sat in front of Steve and putting three on Clint's plate. "Eat, liten fugl. You must eat more."

"Maybe if you would stop stealing my food then I would." Clint glared at the god before grabbing one of the muffins and stuffing a piece in his mouth. "Anyhow, an Omega who's done something to displease his or her pack Alpha can be excommunicated, removed from the pack forever. If an Omega is excommunicated, they cannot join another pack."

"Then the man of iron cannot join our pack because of this tradition?" When Thor received morose nods from the other members of his pack, he let out a low growl of thunder. "That is foolish. On Asgard, an Omega may always join a pack if they desire to do so. To say that Anthony cannot join our pack because he was excommunicated is something I cannot agree to. We want him. That is enough for me. I will go and speak to him. Our pack is not complete without our geni. We will have him."

"Thor," Phil's authoritative voice rang out in the empty kitchen, stopping the god who had turned to follow Tony to his labs. "You cannot just walk down there and demand that Tony ignore the things he's been taught his entire life. We were all raised knowing that an Omega who has been excommunicated must have done something horrible. Knowing Tony's past, I believe it is probably a safe bet that Stane excommunicated him when the Ten Rings failed to kill him. That isn't Tony's fault, of course, but he has still been excommunicated. He won't go from thinking he has become a lone wolf to accepting our courtship overnight."

Natasha slipped between Steve and Phil, facing their Alpha and grabbing the box Tony had left behind on the counter. "So we're still going to court him?"

"Yes. We still want him in the pack, don't we?" Phil watched the rest of his pack nod at him before taking the box from Natasha. "We're still going to court him. We'll just have to take a different approach. Thor, if an Omega is not excommunicated on Asgard, what does happen to Omegas who shame their pack?"

"The Alpha may choose to give them to another pack." Thor picked Clint up, ignoring the indignant exclamation from the smaller man, and sat on his stool with Clint in his lap. "The Allfather chose to give Loki to another pack when he shamed our birth pack. Loki is now the Omega of Sif's bonded pack. He simply has no courting jewelry. It is the punishment for an Omega who has been given in shame."

"No jewelry?" Unconsciously, Clint reached for his first courting gift, a simple leather bracelet Phil had given him when the Agent had first approached him all those years ago. "That would be-"

"It would make his heats extremely uncomfortable." Bruce sighed. "The jewelry provides a calming effect for an Omega during heats, even if they are not being shared with any member of their pack. If Tony was excommunicated by Stane, he's spent his heats alone for four years. He would have been miserable. I'm actually surprised he's lasted this long without going insane. Most lone wolves go insane after two years." He placed his coffee cup down on the counter. "Thor, is there any way for a pack to court a shamed Omega?"

"Of course there is. If an Omega was wrongly accused of shaming their pack, they may still be courted by a new pack but first the Alpha of their former pack must grant permission."

"Who took over when Stane died? JARVIS do you know?"

"Of course I do, Master Rogers. Miss Potts succeeded Mr. Stane as the Alpha of Stark Industries corporate pack."

"I'll talk to Pepper." Natasha grabbed an apple off the counter and turned to head out of the kitchen. "We have a better history than the rest of you do with her."

"No!" Thunder rolled behind Thor's exclamation, leaving Natasha frozen to the floor. "The Alpha must be the one to approach his former pack. It is an insult for a Beta to approach an Alpha on a manner as serious of it. The Son of Coul must be the only one to approach her."

"I'll arrange a meeting with her. Until I talk to her, no one says anything about this to Tony, understood? I will handle the situation." Waiting for his pack to acquiesce to his request, Phil set his dishes in the sink and straightened his suit jacket. "I have business at S.H.I.E.L.D. today. I expect all of you to give Tony his space. Bruce, use the S.H.I.E.L.D. labs today."

"Of course, Alpha."

Pleased that his pack would follow his directions, Phil left the building, pulling out his phone to call Pepper on his way to the elevator. When she answered, Phil gave a slight smile. "Miss Potts, what are you willing to do to see the wrongly excommunicated Omega of the SI pack redeemed and placed in a loving pack? I have a proposition for you."


	2. Chapter 2

"How did you not figure it out when you were undercover at SI? The way they treated me was kind of obvious."

Natasha stopped where she was, halfway in the door of Tony's lab. The engineer hadn't even looked up from his soldering, had barely moved at all since the door had started to slide open.

"Some packs treat all of their Omegas like they're at the fringe. The corporate pack was no different than several other packs I've seen. Why did they let you stay around after Stane excommunicated you?"

Tony finally looked up, lifting the visor that covered his eyes. "I may not be part of the pack anymore, but I own 60% stock in SI. I held the power to completely destroy their company. I have no say in anything that goes on with my own family business anymore, but they can't remove me completely."

Natasha nodded and took a seat on Tony's Ducati, bending over the handlebars as she watched him. Meeting her eyes for a second, Tony straightened his shoulders defensively.

"What are you doing here? You can't court me. I'm a lone wolf. Even showing interest in me makes the pack seem like it's full of morons. Birdbrain might be kind of stupid, but the rest of you are relatively smart. You should be avoiding me, pretending that you never thought courting me was a good idea. You should leave."

"Do you want me to leave?" At Tony's shrug, Natasha stood up and moved to the table he was working at. "There are things I can't tell you right now, that I don't want to tell you. But you shouldn't think so lowly of yourself. Stane was a bastard. What he did to you means nothing to our pack. You'll see. Just keep an open mind, Stark. Surely you know how to do that?"

"What do you mean 'things you can't tell me'? I've been excommunicated. There's no reason for you guys to pursue me. I'll still be on the team, if Fury doesn't kick me off for some reason. That's all that really matters. The way I act around you guys isn't going to change. Just forget that you ever wanted to court me. We can go back to life as normal."

Natasha shook her head, grabbing Tony's shoulders and forcing him to really look at her. "Just don't shut us out." She let go of him and turned to leave the lab. "Steve still expects to see you in the gym in an hour. Don't get lost in a project. I've already told JARVIS to make sure you're there."

Tony waited until she had left the lab to turn away from the door, shaking off the confusion that she'd instilled in him. The Avengers pack wasn't going to court him. He knew that without a doubt. They may be unconventional, especially considering the ratio of superhumans to regular humans in the pack, but no pack would ever court an excommunicated Omega. It wasn't done.

Sure, Tony had, immediately after Obi's death, researched to see if anyone had ever heard of an excommunicated Omega being courted by another pack. He'd been holding on to the foolish dreams he'd had as a kid, dreams that he would one day be showered with courting gifts. Hell, he'd still refused to throw away his courting chest, gifted to him by his mother after his first heat. Despite knowing that he'd been excommunicated, Tony had hoped that he would find a way to get around it, that he would still be courted someday. When he'd found out that no one had ever heard of a lone wolf being assimilated into a new pack, he'd gone on a bender, shattering his courting chest and attempting to burn down the lab around him. Since then, he'd come to accept that he would never be part of another pack again. Obi had made sure of that.

It wasn't like Tony needed a pack anyhow. After the first year of taking care of his heats by himself, he'd developed a suppressant, a dangerous thing for any Omega to take, and managed to stop his heats completely. He'd preserved his sanity and eliminated his biological need for a pack all in one move. Tony had managed to turn his excommunication into something that worked to his advantage, allowed him to focus solely on his work and on Iron Man rather than his biology. He was better off this way.

At least, that's what he'd been telling himself for years. Living with the other Avengers, watching as the original pack of three evolved into a pack of six, Tony had felt some of those old desires, relived some of those old dreams of being courted. A night alone with a very expensive bottle of Glenfiddich had remedied his temporary bout of insanity, returning him to his normal state of sarcasm and snark, with a small amount of guilt for wasting a $70,000 bottle of scotch. He'd dealt with the jealousy that pooled in his gut every time he saw Clint wearing a new piece of courting jewelry, telling himself to stop being foolish. When the other six residents of the house had been incommunicado for a week because of Clint's heat, Tony had buried himself in work, completely redesigning Natasha's Widow Bites and building yet another shield for Steve.

Tony was managing, as he always had. Even this, the knowledge that the pack had wanted to court him, wouldn't affect him. He was Tony fucking Stark. He didn't need a pack. He had survived without one for the past four years; he would continue to survive without one for the foreseeable future. Frustrated, concentration wrecked, Tony set his work aside and headed for the gym, prepared to have Steve wipe the floor with him. He might as well do something somewhat productive rather than wallow in his own self-pity.

As Tony walked down to the gym, he mentally braced himself for Steve's reaction to his inadvertent revelation that morning. Steve was from a different time, a time when lone wolves held less respect than the average Omega, when they were no good for anything other than prostitution, and even then it was nigh on impossible to get by. Tony had no doubt that Steve would treat him differently now. The other man had already made his opinion of Tony very clear. If anything, Tony's revelation would cement Steve's low opinion of Tony even stronger. Tony entered the gym geared up for a fight, on the defensive before he even saw the look on Steve's face.

"Let's get this over with, Rogers. I want to get back to my lab before I get grey hairs." Tony headed to the locker room he'd put in just off of the gym, stripping down and pulling on his sweatpants and a white shirt. Steve, as usual, remained in the gym waiting for him. Once changed, Tony walked back out to the gym, arms crossed over the arc reactor. "What are we doing today? Boxing again? If so, you might want to call Hawkeye in here. I could barely walk last time."

"No, Tony. We aren't boxing." Steve sat on an overturned punching bag, carefully unwrapping the tape he'd had around his hands. "I want to talk to you."

"What? You want to talk to me?" Tony sneered. "I suppose you want to tell me you don't want to work with a lone wolf, or that I'm not fit to be on the team. Or are you going to tell me about how my father would be disappointed in me? Maybe use me the ways others like me were used in your days? I'll tell you one thing, Stripes. It isn't happ-"

"Tony! I don't want any of that." Steve had stood and grabbed Tony's shoulder with one hand, shaking the smaller man lightly. "I would never think less of you because you're a lone wolf. I may be from a different time but that doesn't mean I'm a caveman! There's nothing wrong with being a lone wolf. My mother was a lone wolf."

"What?" Tony stared blankly at the other man, a frown marring his brow.

"I know you expect me to be completely naïve and prejudiced because I'm from a different time, but I'm not. A lone wolf Omega, a woman abandoned by her pack because she gave birth to a sickly son, raised me. I was in the army. Do you have any idea of what my life was actually like, or do you just base your assumptions on the idol worship your father spewed at you?" Steve released his shoulder and sat back down on the punching bag, running his hand over his face. "I was the one who asked Phil if he planned on courting you, Tony. I want you to be part of the pack. I want the freedom to pull you into my lap during bonding nights and just hold you. I want to be chosen to accompany you through your heat. I want you, Tony. The fact that you're a lone wolf makes no difference to me."

Tony stood, dumbfounded, staring at Steve for a long moment. "You were the one who asked Agent if he was going to court me for the pack?"

"I asked him, yes. But we all wanted you to be part of our pack. We still want you, Tony." Steve stood back up and approached Tony slowly, pulling a small box out of his pocket. "Excommunicated or not, I intend to court you, whether or not the rest of the pack does."

Tony floundered for a minute, not sure what to say. Finally, he took the box, fingering the seam on it as he stared at Steve. "You'd go against one of the traditions that the quintessential American hero should hold closest to his heart? Not very Captain America of you, Spangles."

"It's time America changed a bit, I think. Some of the traditions we hold so dear are a bit archaic." Steve nudged the box in Tony's hand. "Are you going to open it?"

"Shouldn't Agent Agent be giving me my first courting gift since he's the Alpha?" Tony knew he was stalling but he couldn't help it. The weight of the small jewelry box in his hand was something he had never thought he'd feel, not after Obi had banished him from the SI pack.

"Phil will speak with you later. He had business to take care of with Director Fury. I am doing this with his full knowledge. Will you open it?"

"Oh. Yeah." Tony opened the box slowly; almost afraid it would be snatched away from him. When he looked down at the earring within, he stared silently for a moment, one finger tracing over the ruby. "This is- Thank you, Steve."

"You are very welcome, Tony. I look forward to see you wearing it."

"Right. I'm just going to go- do some work now. Thanks, again, for the earring. It's amazing." Tony beat a quick retreat, rushing to his lab and activating lockdown protocol. He needed time to think about what Steve had said, about the earring resting in the box on his table. He needed to refocus his mind and center himself. Putting on some mind-numbing music, Tony focused on the improvements for the Iron Man suit he'd been doing before, setting aside the questions Steve's actions had raised as he set to work.


	3. Chapter 3

"Let me get this straight, you want to court Tony even though he's a lone wolf but you need my permission to do so because I'm the Alpha of his former pack?" Pepper Potts leaned back in her office chair, a fairly amused air about her.

"That is precisely the situation, Miss Potts." Phil stood in front of the window in Pepper's office, staring out at the skyline of New York and to the harbor beyond.

"And you got this idea from Thor?"

"Yes. Apparently excommunication does not exist on Asgard." Phil smiled slightly and turned, relaxing and allowing his arms to drop from behind his back to his sides. "When we explained it to him, he seemed to feel quite incredulous about the whole thing."

Pepper pinched her lips together and stared at Phil, her face carefully blank despite the emotions running through her. "Why do you want to court Tony? He already allows your pack to stay in the Tower, he already makes equipment for each of you to use without being asked to. He's already part of your team. What more do you want from him?"

"Miss Potts, Tony Stark belongs in my pack. He is already part of my team, yes, but he belongs in my pack. He and Barton have already started Omega bonding, whether either one of them realizes it. They can both be relatively blind when they choose to be. Moreover, Tony has been bonding with the rest of the pack on a personal level as well. We all want him. The fact that Obadiah Stane excommunicated him is irrelevant. We've already decided that we're comfortable courting him despite the social implications that we may face. We want Tony Stark and whether or not we have your permission, we will have him if he will have us."

"So this is all just a formality then? My input really plays no part in what you decide to do, does it?" Pepper sat up, an amused smile playing at the corner of her lips.

"No, Pepper. It does not. I just figured you would like to be informed beforehand rather than after we have already managed to woo him." Phil grinned and walked towards the door, straightening his suit jacket.

"Right. Well, happy courting then."

"I would like to know more about this excommunication. Will you explain it to me?"

Clint set his bow down and leaned against the wall and crossing his arms. "Sure. What do you want to know?"

"Why did something as shameful as excommunication start?"

"I don't think anyone can remember, really." Clint moved away from the wall and started gathering up the things he'd brought down to the range. "Every culture has legends, myths about the first Omega to be excommunicated. They're told as bedtime stories, things to motivate Omegas to be docile and obedient. If an Omega does what the Alpha says then there's no need for the Omega to suffer through the pain of being excommunicated, that's the bottom line." He grabbed a bottle of water and drained it, wrapping his free hand around Thor's and pulling him from the range. "There are some exceptions to every rule though. For instance, my father should have been my birth pack Alpha, but he never bothered to take the time to bond with Barney or me. If the birth pack Alpha doesn't bond with the children, then Omegas can't be excommunicated."

"What happened to you and your brother?"

"We ended up in the circus. We were still young enough that our brain chemistry hadn't settled and the birth pack bond stuck with the circus Alpha. There was a lot of science involved, biology and shit like that. Bruce could probably explain it better than I can. Anyhow, when Phil started courting me, I was still part of the circus pack. He had to get permission from the pack Alpha to court me, and when he did, well, things just went from there. It wasn't easy, not having a pack bond for the most formative years of my life, but I got by. Barney and I, we had each other, which helped. It probably kept me sane."

"And what of Anthony- what do you think this has been like for Anthony?"

Clint paused, going sullen. "I don't know, for sure. I can speculate, but what he's been through and what I went through when I was a kid, it's different." As they entered the pack's living room, he retreated to the hammock Tony had affectionately named his nest, looking down on Thor and continuing to talk. "Tony's dad may not have been the best Alpha, but he still did what he had to in order to bond with the Omegas in the pack, especially Tony. He'd spend time teaching Tony the ropes, engineering stuff. It helped their bond to form. When Stane excommunicated Tony, it was disastrous. Phil and Nat were there; they saw Tony's self-destruction. About a year after Stane dropped Tony, something changed, Tony changed. Whatever he did made him stronger, colder, and more cynical. I'm not sure what happened, but it was intense. Most Omegas go insane after they're excommunicated. Without a pack Alpha to help them through their heats, without the pack bond, it drives them mad. Tony was headed that way one day and then the next he was okay."

"Then Anthony found a way to protect himself from being driven insane. So perhaps he will still desire to bond with our pack."  
>"Oh, I don't doubt that Tony wants to bond with us, but the social implications of being a lone wolf take a lot of time to get over. Even Tony, with his reputation, knows when to stop pushing at the edges of what society accepts. No one has ever heard of a lone wolf going on to bond with a pack. It's enough to make Tony think a bit before he accepts us."<p>

"But he will accept us, will he not?"

Clint hummed and leaned back in his hammock, closing his eyes. "Yes. I imagine he'll accept us before my next heat. Give him two months. He'll come around."

"JARVIS, will you pull up Omega myths for me?"

"Of course Master Bruce. Anything specific?"

"Focus on Scandinavian myths. I want to see if there are any myths that line up with what Thor was telling us earlier." Bruce slipped his glasses off and rubbed his nose. "Tony won't accept it if we all claim that we don't care about social convention. We have to give him reasons, proof that it is possible that a lone wolf has been accepted into a mated pack before. Otherwise he isn't going to welcome our advances. You know how Tony thinks."

"Of course." Several articles popped up on Bruce's tablet. "Will there be anything else, Master Bruce?"

"No. This is good, thank you. Where is Tony?"

"Sir is in his lab. He appears to be deep in thought."

"Right. Thank you JARVIS."

"Do you have any idea what being excommunicated does to an Omega's mind?"

Phil looked up and frowned, taking note of how Tony was leaning against the doorframe, almost as if he was prepared to run at any second. Laying aside his book, he spread his hands on his lap, shaking his head. "I don't. Would you like to explain it to me?"

"When an Omega is excommunicated, it severs a mental tether, sort of like a repelling rope for climbers. The tether keeps the Omega connected to the Alpha of his or her birth pack, so that the Omega can feel the Alpha, feel the security that the Alpha provides. We aren't weak, but there's something hard-wired into us that makes us need that security."

Tony moved to the bar, grabbing two glasses and preparing drinks for them. He handed one to Phil before sitting in the chair across from him and sipping at his own. Phil cradled the drink in his hands, watching Tony and waiting for him to continue his explanation. The Omega sighed and finished his drink, setting the cup aside.

"When the tether is severed, it feels like falling down a cliff face, unable to stop." Tony closed his eyes, resting his face in his hands for a moment before looking at Phil again. "Everything I went through in Afghanistan, the feeling of Obi pulling out the arc reactor and leaving me to die, even falling through space, none of it felt quite like being excommunicated. I was standing on solid ground, in the office that had been mine, that had been my father's, and I felt like I was falling."

Phil fought the instinct to stand up and comfort Tony, forcing himself to stay seated. Both Tony and Clint, he'd learned over the years of knowing both, refused typical comfort from other people. If he tried to comfort Tony the way he wanted to, he would build up his defenses again, shut down again. He had to listen to Tony, let him finish telling his story, before he even thought about comforting him.

"I still feel like I'm falling, constantly. I know, logically, that I'm on solid ground, that I'm not in danger of falling on my face, but I have this constant feeling of vertigo. I've done the research. All excommunicated Omegas feel the same way. It's part of why so many are driven into insanity. The constant feeling of instability makes it next to impossible for their minds to function. Heats make it even worse. The reason Omegas need an Alpha so badly during heat isn't just the biological imperative. The tether helps us; it keeps us feeling secure and safe. I developed a suppressant so that I don't go through the heats, so my suffering isn't as bad as it could be."

He looked up at Phil; his usually sparkling and jovial eyes surprisingly dull. Phil swallowed, not sure if there was anything he could, or should, say at this moment.

"Even if you do court me, even if I do want to be part of your pack, that tether is gone. When Omegas bond to their bonded pack and leave their birth pack, that tether is switched to their bonded Alpha. There are no stories of a lone wolf bonding to a new pack. I may not ever be able to connect to you like Clint does. If you guys still decide to do this, to court me even though it's never been done before, you have to be prepared for it to fail. I won't stop you if you really do want to court me, but you have to know that it might not do anything."

Phil waited to see if Tony was finished speaking before he stood up and moved to place his hand on Tony's shoulder. "You're forgetting one thing, Tony."

The Omega looked up, confused.

"We're a pack with a superhuman, an alien, two assassins, a giant green rage monster, and two humans who have defied death. We can do anything we set our minds to. We're still going to court you, Tony. If anyone can defy natural laws, we can. All we ask is that you give all of us a chance to try."

Tony nodded, reaching a hand up to squeeze Phil's. "Yeah. Alright. But no chick flick moments, okay?"

"I'll do my best, Tony, I'll do my best."


	4. Chapter 4

**This is a short chapter, but it's an update, so there we go. I'm going to work on longer chapters but my other stories have caught my attention more than this one.**

**Add my facebook if you want updates on my updates...**

"What happened when Agent decided to court you?"

Clint looked up from the video game he'd been playing and paused it when he saw Tony sinking into a chair across from him. "What do you mean? He just started giving me gifts, courting jewelry and such. It was normal."

"No- I mean, did your biology or psycho-babble Omega stuff go all wonky? You know, the little voice in your head that tells you to submit, expose your neck, do all sorts of typical Omega things- did that get louder or anything?"

"Hey man, if you're hearing voices that's on you," Clint shut off the video game and pulled his legs up on the couch under him, perching on the edge as he watched Tony. "I don't know how to describe what happened. It was like my bond with the Alpha of the circus started to shift, slowly. Then one day, maybe three or four days before my heat, Phil came by and I realized the bond had completely switched to him. I could feel him there, almost like I'd felt the Alpha growing up, but more demanding, his presence was stronger. Then we shared my heat, and we bonded completely."

Tony nodded and looked out the window; trying to pull away from the conversation, distance himself from the implications. "And when you guys decided to add on Betas? Did your mental connection change to add them too?"

"Yeah, I guess." Shrugging, Clint stood up, moving closer to Tony. "With Nat it was most noticeable because she was the only one we were looking to add at the time. A few weeks before my heat, I gained this awareness of where she was, how she was feeling. After our bonding heat, that awareness never went away. I feel it for everyone. Now why are you asking me these questions? Don't you usually go talk to Bruce when you're in the mood to talk bodies and stuff?"

"Jolly Green is out with Agent Agent doing some sort of calming exercise or something. I thought I'd ask the only other Omega I know, seeing as your pack is trying to court me, and all."

"Right. Well, has your 'psycho-babble' been different?"

"I guess." Tony pulled out his phone and started fiddling with it, refusing to meet Clint's eyes. "I mean, usually I ignore anything in my mind that isn't tech related, but lately that part of my mind that is exclusively Omega and focused on all that biologic imperative shit has started screaming at me. There's this sort-of bond there with Cap, I think. It started after he gave me the earring. It's muted, but I know he's in the gym and he's pretty psyched so I think he managed to pin Spidey Girl to the mat or something."

Clint grinned, casually throwing his arm around Tony's shoulder. "I knew you couldn't be completely deficient in anything that isn't science. You're supposed to be feeling the Cap. He's already given you some courting jewelry, he jumpstarted the bonding process. You'll start feeling everyone soon."

"Right." Tony slid away from Clint's arm, one hand reaching up to trace the earring he hadn't been able to resist wearing. "So my brain's going to be driving me crazy and distracted for a while. Got it. Thanks for the help, Zazu. Gotta go now, Pep needs me to build something."

"Wait, Tony." Clint pulled a long box out of his pocket, handing it to the other Omega. "I know that Omegas don't have to court each other, but I wanted to get you something too. Here."

"Oh. Thanks." Tony opened the box slowly, a small rush of air leaving his lungs as he stared at the leather bracelet inside. It was knotted, simple, and elegantly masculine. Tied in the leather was a red gold arrow. He laughed quietly, fingers tracing the leather slowly. "Wow. Thanks, Clint."

"Yeah, of course." Clint clapped Tony on the shoulder and headed to the kitchen. "Go nerd out in your lab or something."

"Yeah. I'll see you later."

"See you."

"Hey, Wonder Woman, I have those new Widow's Bite that you asked me for. I did a few tweaks, upgraded them a bit. They should work better now. Do you want to try them out?" Tony held out a tray to Natasha who had just walked into his lab.

"That's not what I came down here for, but sure, I'll try them out." Natasha placed a box on the table in front of Tony and picked up the Widow's Bite. "You open that and I'll take a look at these." Moving to the section of the lab designed for testing their equipment, Natasha pretended not to notice how Tony had frozen, staring at the box.

Tony shook himself out of his shock and placed a hand on the box, running his fingers along the edge. It was the size of a ring box, completely devoid of any hints he might have used to determine it's origin. He caught his thumbnail on the hinge, debating whether or not he was going to open it. Finally, he took a deep breath and opened the box, staring at the ring inside.

It was relatively simple, a thick gold band divided into three parts with engraved rings. The middle part of the band was the thickest, etched carefully. Tony traced his finger along the etching любимая and looked up at Natasha.

"What does it mean?"

"Lyubimaya, it means beloved. Do you like it?"

"Yeah. Yeah. I do. Thank you." Tony took the ring out of the box and started to slide it onto his right ring finger, pausing when Natasha placed her fingers on his wrist.

"Let me." Natasha slid the ring onto his finger and traced her callouses carefully before looking up at him. "I know that you don't understand why we're doing this, but thank you for letting us. You didn't have to."

"You presented a compelling argument." Being this close to Natasha, even when he knew she wasn't going to kill him, was slightly intimidating. Tony glanced down at her eyes and blinked slowly. Damn, the woman was intense. Stepping back, Tony fought to regain control of the situation.

"Thanks for the ring. So, will those upgrades work for you or do you need me to mess around with it more?"

Natasha sighed and grabbed Tony's arm, keeping him close. "Tony, I'm not about to attack you. Stop trying to run from us. You accept our courting gifts and then run away as soon as you can. Stop. We want you to be part of our pack. That means that we want _you. _We aren't doing this because we think the Avengers should be a complete pack. We're doing this because each of us wants you in our beds. Let us show you that."

Moving slowly so he wouldn't freak out on her, Natasha closed the small space Tony had made between them, letting go of his arm to cup his cheek and force his head to tilt. She met his eyes and drew him in for a kiss, just a barely there press of her lips against his. When she felt Tony relax into the contact, Natasha smiled and broke away.

"If you don't want us, you don't have to let us court you. None of us will think different of you. But we want to show you that we care. Let us show you how much we want you."

"Right." Tony looked confused for a second before steeling himself and nodding at her, his confident air returning. "Yeah, I can do that. I really do need to get back to work though, so…" He trailed off, gesturing at the recs he'd been working on. "Pepper needs these tomorrow."

"I'll let you get back to work then. Don't forget to come upstairs for dinner. Bruce said he'd Hulk out in your lab if you decide to skip another meal. I think you'd like to avoid that, right?"

"Right. I'll see you at dinner then."


	5. Chapter 5

**It's been a while since I've updated this. Thankfully, my New Years Resolution includes being organized. On that note, this will be updated again on the 30th.**

"Open the door Tony. You can't hide from me forever. You do work for my company, after all." Pepper tapped her foot as she stood outside the lab, tugging on the bottom of her jacket. She had other places she needed to get to before her afternoon meetings, but she needed to check on Tony before she could focus on company problems. She'd almost run down here immediately after Phil left, but she knew that Tony needed time to process and, quite frankly, so did she. The last thing Pepper had ever expected was for someone to set out to court Tony after he'd been excommunicated.

The doors to Tony's lab slid open, KISS blaring inside. As Pepper entered the room, JARVIS lowered the volume to a more manageable level. "Technically still mine, Pep. What do you need? I'm working on the new Stark Phone right now, but it isn't ready to meet the world yet."

Pepper sighed when she spotted Tony's legs sticking out from under a car. She walked over to the car and kicked the bumper with her heel, nudging his leg in the process. "How is this working on the Phone, Tony?"

"Legolas's brakes went out. Birdbrain decided to teach Ole Thunderstruck how to drive and discovered just how powerful Asgardian feet can be. I'm doing my best to fix his brake line so I can figure out a way to god-proof his car."

"You do realize that a mechanic could do that, don't you?" Pinching the bridge of her nose, Pepper shook her head. She should have figured that Tony would be doing something for one of the Avengers. It was a miracle if she could tear him away from Avengers projects to focus on anything for Stark Industries. Tony insisted that he do as much as possible for the other Avengers.

"I can do it better. Hand me that socket wrench? 3/8 inch should be right next to my coffee." Tony rolled out from under the car and grinned. There was a grease stain on his cheek and Pepper wasn't entirely sure that it was from this recent project of his. Tony tended to forget to shower when he went on a bender. "What did you need? Usually you handle all the day to day stuff since you sign my name better than I do."

Pepper handed him the socket wrench and sat down on the chair he'd put in the lab just for her. "You know why I'm here, Tony. Phil came to see me today."

Tony aborted his movement to slide back under the car and stared at her. The apprehension in his eyes made Pepper want to wrap him in a hug. Since Obi had excommunicated him, Tony seemed to be terrified of even the mention of Packs. When Pepper had told him she wanted to try and reincorporate him into the Stark Corporate Pack he'd had a panic attack at the idea. The Avengers Pack wanting to court him could push him over the edge if everyone involved wasn't careful.

"Do you want them to court you Tony?"

"It's a free country. They can do whatever they want." Pepper was tempted to tell him that he sounded like a puppy that'd gotten into the trash but she refrained, instead giving him a soft smile.

"That's not what I asked."

Tony slid back under the car. The silence spread between them for a few moments before he spoke. When he finally did speak up, his voice had lost the petulant tone he'd taken with her earlier. "I want to belong. Ever since Obi, I've been falling. I've been an outsider. The Avengers want me. They want me to be more than just part of the team. They want me for me. I… I want that too. I want the warm fuzzy feeling I get when they give me a new piece of courting jewelry." He slid back out and met her gaze. It was one of the rare times Pepper could honestly say that Tony looked completely serious. "I know it probably won't work, and I know that we'll be ridiculed, but I want this. I want them."

Pepper was silent for a minute, just watching him. Finally she sighed and gave him a sad smile. "If they can give you that then I'm happy for you. You deserve that happiness. I'll do my best to soften the blow that will come when the media finds out. This should be much more interesting to handle than your last drunken disorderly."

Tony sat up, rubbing his arm. His eyes were full of regret and warm swirls of what could have happened, if he hadn't have been excommunicated, if she wasn't the Alpha of a corporate pack. "I wish…"

"There's no point in wishing, Tony." Pepper reached out and brushed her hand down his shoulder, wiping off some grease on his sleeve. "Show me the plans you have for the Stark Phone then you can show me your courting jewelry."

Tony grinned and moved over to a worktable. "You're gonna love this, Pep."

* * *

><p>"I have brought you nourishment, Anthony." Thor elbowed his way through hanging bits of the Iron Man armor, setting down a plate of food on a worktable near Tony, moving to look over his shoulder at the small device Tony was working on. He still held a coffee cup in one hand, casually wrapping that arm around Tony so that the genius would see it. "You are working on something for the Lady Pepper, are you not?"<p>

Tony pushed up his welding mask and smiled at Thor, grabbing the coffee cup out of the other man's hand and taking a sip before nodding. Without realizing it, he stepped closer to Thor, fitting himself comfortably within the crook of the god's arm. "Yep. If I don't finish this before next Wednesday she'll have my balls and I happen to like them where they are. What's up, big guy? You usually don't come down here, even if I do appreciate the coffee."

"You missed the evening meal. I thought I would come and ensure that you take care of yourself. Come, take a break and eat." Thor indicated the plate of food, piled high with chicken marsala. "Dr. Banner has informed me that this is one of your favorite dishes and instructed me to ensure that you eat it all."

Tony moved over to the worktable, groaning as the scent of the dish hit his nose. "Bruce plays dirty when he wants me to do something. This smells like heaven. Is this what everyone had for dinner?" He took a bite and closed his eyes in bliss, moaning. Once he'd swallowed the bite, he looked back up at Thor. "You have got to try some of this, thunderstruck. It's amazing." Scooping up some chicken and a piece of onion on the fork, he held it out for Thor, waiting for him to open his mouth and take the bite. Thor did so with a look of amazement on his face, his eyes softening for a reason Tony couldn't place. "It's the best thing you've ever eaten, right?"

Thor chewed the bite thoroughly and swallowed before nodding, one hand coming up to cup Tony's face. At the confused expression in Tony's eyes, Thor smiled. "I know it is not the case on Midgard, but on Asgard an Omega offering food to an Alpha or Beta signifies a willingness to spend heat with them, to bond with them. It is as meaningful for us as courting jewelry is for you."

"It means something special? But you steal food from Clint all the time." Tony bit his lip, and furled his brow, a crease marring his face that just called for Thor to smooth it out. When the larger man reached out to do so, Tony leaned into the touch, eyes drifting closed.

"Aye, because Clint has given me permission. It is a game for us, a courting ritual, if you will. I do not take his food out of malice. It s something we both enjoy." Thor continued to trace his fingers over Tony's face, memorizing the feel of his skin. "I would very much like to have similar rituals with you, after you have accepted us."

"I can't even think about not accepting you." Tony opened his eyes, allowing Thor to see the vulnerability he usually kept hidden so well. "The fact that everyone has decided to break the mold, has decided that my status as a lone wolf doesn't matter… It's overwhelming. I never thought that anyone would want me after what Obi did."

"Does this mean you will accept my courting gift?" Thor pulled away slightly, a smile twitching his lips at the quiet moan of protest that escaped the Omega. He produced a square box from his pocket, holding it in his palm for Tony to take. "I wanted something that would mean something to both of us. I do hope that it is acceptable. Your JARVIS helped me."

Tony took the small box, fingers running along the lid with a reverent expression. "I like getting gifts. This has all been rather new to me. It's amazing though." He opened the box and gasped at the piece of jewelry inside. Grabbing it, he lifted the arm cuff, tracing the runes carved into it. "It's palladium, isn't it?"

"And gold." Thor took the cuff from him and showed him the gold runes that had been carefully carved into the palladium. "I wanted something that would reflect our pasts, something that would allow us to look forward to our futures. What you have suffered through has made you stronger than most Asgardian warriors I have met. You are one of the bravest men I have ever met. I would honor that bravery."

Tony blinked rapidly to clear his eyes of the mysterious moisture gathering there, instead, pushing his arm out for Thor to slip the cuff onto it. Once he was wearing it, he grabbed Thor's face and pulled him in for a kiss. "Thank you, Thor. Thank you so much."

Thor smiled and wrapped his arms around Tony's waist, returning the kiss with a hum. "I would do anything for you, my Omega."


End file.
